A real life 'Jaws' off the Hamptons is being tracked by officials so they can learn more about the great white.
The real life "Jaws" actually has a name-Mary Lee. The great white was tagged by non-profit group OCEARCH on September 12, 2012 and has been tracked all the way from the Hamptons to St. Augustine, Fla. as she takes a trip up and down the east coast.
Mary Lee was tracked in Florida on Jan 9, but she started making her way back up and was spottd by the Carolinas on January 10. By Wednesday, the 16-foot, 3,456-pound shark was off the coast of Montauk Point in New York.
While Mary Lee was the kind of shark that inspired the famous film"Jaws," , Petty Officer Patrick Rogers at Coast Guard Station Shinnecock told the Patch that there's nothing to worry about as Mary Lee is heading away from the coast.
OCEARCH is able to track the shark every time her fin breaks the water line.
If you would like to track Mary Lee or any of the other OCEARCH sharks, check out their tracking map.
Mar Lee is only the second Atlantic great white that they group has tagged. The other is Genie, who was tagged last January. OCEARCH now tracks 35 sharks, but Mary Lee seems to be one of the easiest ones to track.
"Most of the sharks we have tagged swim out in the ocean and we don't hear from them much, but Mary Lee is super coastal - people are following her everyday," Fischer said.
How did an animal that is known to be scary get such a sweet name? Mary Lee was named after OCEARCH's founding chairman, Chris Fischer's mother. He finds Mary Lee to be one of the most interesting sharks he's tracked, which is why he named her after his mother.
"My parents have done so much. I was waiting and waiting for a special shark to name after her and this is truly the most historic and legendary fish I have ever been a part of," he wrote on OCEARCH's website, according to Patch.
Since Mary Lee pops up so much, researcher can gain a lot of information.
"Until now, many researchers have never gotten up close to a great white," Fisher said. "And Mary Lee is the first shark in history we are able to track like this."
Through tracking Mary Lee and Genie, OCEARCH hopes to learn more about the Atlantic great white.
"We don't even know where they breed," he said.
Fischer also hopes to put the myths about great white being like the fictional "Jaws" to rest.
"We hope people become more enlightened and a conversation is started, especially since we opened up this tracker for the world to see," Fischer said. "When we think of a great white, we usually think of 'Jaws' music, but now people are asking what is she doing? Where is she going?"
OCEARCH also hopes that shark fin projects will end and they teach this through educational programs.
"Seventy-three million sharks are finned for soup every year," Fischer told Patch. "If we remove them from the system, the system will collapse."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
